The Wedding Date is a contemporary romance by Jasmine Guillory. I recently checked it out of the library, forgetting that I’d read it. It didn’t take long for me to remember.
A Common Troupe
This is certainly not the first time that a man and woman have met in a stalled elevator and went on to fall in love and get married. It’s a handy setup for charming banter, and Drew Nichols and Alexa Monroe are up to the challenge.
Alexa is on her way to celebrate with her sister Olivia who just made partner in New York. Olivia is staying in the Fairmont hotel in San Francisco, while Drew is in town from LA for a wedding. While she won’t share her celebratory champagne, she does share the fancy crackers and cheese with Drew. Given how well they hit it off, he invites her to be his date at a wedding that weekend, and she (uncharacteristically) says yes.
Pretend Girlfriend
Alexa works as the chief of staff in the mayor’s office and has excellent public relations skills. She puts them to good use over two evenings with Drew, managing the social environment of the wedding skillfully. Even when she finds out that Drew dumped his ex, whose wedding they are attending, and not the other way around as he let her believe, she’s unfazed.
Everyone knows that Drew doesn’t date, and so it’s a surprise that he is at the wedding with a girlfriend. Their act is convincing though and the weekend goes off well.
One thing leads to another and Alexa and Drew have a steamy night together. Unbeknownst to Alexa, Drew changes his flight from noon to that night to have more time with her and they spend the day together.
And So It Continues
Without discussing what they were doing, Alexa and Drew start taking turns visiting each other when both had the weekend off. When not together, Alexa and Drew keep in touch mostly by text messaging (although the content of their texts is only a small part of the book).
After a hard day with a patient, Drew flies in to spend the night with Alexa. She also had a tough day at work, worried that a pilot project that was very important to her would not get the necessary support. They listen and comfort each other but still don’t discuss anything about their relationships.
Alexa knows that Drew didn’t believe in girlfriends and decides to just enjoy the moment. Drew enjoys Alexa’s company and figures he still has time before he needs to break things off. He likes to break things off before they turn bad.
Alexa met Drew’s best friend, Carlos, on her very first visit when Drew had had to work late and needed someone to pick her up from the airport. On a visit for the 4th of July long weekend, she meets some of his other friends at a barbecue. She is the only black woman there and doesn’t fit the thin, blond mold but she gets along fine with the other women. Then, as she sits chatting with four women in the kitchen, she find out that three of them dated Drew and he’d broken up with each of them around the 2-month mark when everything was going well.
Drew had hesitated when introducing her earlier, introducing her as Alexa and not as his girlfriend or anything else. Alexa starts worrying that Drew is going to break up with her. They get into a fight about their relationship at the party and she actively avoids him until it is time to leave. When he is called in to the hospital, they have to leave before the party is over and he drives her home. Noticing that she is still upset, he has her promise to stay until he returns home so they could talk.
Alexa had planned to leave but she keeps her promise to him. When Drew gets home in the middle of the night, they talk briefly and when Alexa starts to cry, he starts to make love to her and she responds to him. When he wakes up in the morning, she is gone.
The Grand Gesture
Neither Drew nor Alexa reach out to each other initially. They are miserable but each is waiting for the other. Their best friends tell them that they could save their relationships but it isn’t until the mother of a patient who’d met Alexa encourages Drew to take action to save his relationship that he decides to pursue Alexa.
Alexa’s big project at work is an arts program for youth who are in and out of trouble. She’d seen it help her older sister when she was a teenager and while she hadn’t been especially kind to Olivia, she knows that the program can help teenagers who need help outside the prison system.
Drew remembers when the council will be voting on Alexa’s project and sends her two boxes of donuts and a good luck note that morning. (Donuts showed up often in the book because Alexa loved donuts and both her friend at work, Theo, and Drew would buy her donuts to make her happy.)
A Dream Come True
At the council meeting, Olivia surprises Alexa by speaking up and giving testimony as to why the art project should be funded. The council votes to approve it. When Alexa finds her sister at the end of the meeting, there is another unexpected guest. Drew, by chance, had sat beside her sister and they’d figured out their shared relationship to Alexa upon introducing themselves.
Olivia goes ahead to celebrate with Alexa’s colleagues, leaving her to make up with Drew. Drew professes his love for Alex and she reciprocates. But that’s not all. Drew pursued an offer to work at a local hospital to be close to her, and she approves. They take a detour to her office for her to clean up her tear-streaked face before joining her colleagues to celebrate.
The Ending of The Wedding Date
One day short of a year from when they met, Drew and Alexa visit the Fairmount to meet Carlos. As it turns out, it’s all a ruse for Drew to propose to Alexa in the spot where they first met. This time, when the elevator stops, it’s planned as Drew has managed to negotiate for 30 minutes in the elevator with her. Drew doesn’t kneel to propose/ rather they both sit cross-legged beside each other. And Alexa says yes. Surrounded by flowers, they enjoy champagne and crackers and cheese.
Final Thoughts
While meeting in a stalled elevator, the pretend date, and a one-night stand growing into love are standard troupes in romance novels, The Wedding Date is a fun read. Drew and Alexa’s (non) relationship does involve a lot of sex but we do get to see some personal development and two same-sex friendships.
As a result of her art project, Alexa has a long overdue conversation with Olivia that brings them closer together. Drew gets to trust his heart and that of someone else. But why was he so resistant to a relationship to begin with??
Maddie and Alexa are very close friends, as are Carlos and Drew. These friends are ride or die friends (Hello Fast Furious Fans 👋 ) who will stick around when you need a friend and help you stay true to yourself and your needs. Carlos and Maddie both give space and push, depending on what they think their friend needs.
Alexa and Drew are in an interracial relationship, and I appreciate the fact that they are not color-blind. After Alexa asks him if she will be the only black person at the rehearsal dinner, he remembers that and volunteers this information before they attend the Fourth of July party.
Overall, I think that The Wedding Date is a fun read with attention to detail. It’s a flirty, sexy, easy read. I finished it in just over five hours so it’s perfect for curling up on the couch one lazy day or split over a few sittings. The chapters have great breaks for very convenient pauses.
The Wedding Date is the first of 6 books in the series. Let me know what you think of these books!
Note that Amazon Links are affiliate links. This means that I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases made at Amazon if you use this link to make a purchase.